In June 2016, the Island Potato Soap Company launched a potato-based bar soap using cull and unharvested potatoes sourced from Prince Edward Island farms. The product and its sustainability model were featured by CBC in an interview by Mitch Cormier conducted at the manufacturer’s home in Hope River on June 14, 2016. The article highlighted the use of potatoes that would otherwise be discarded and emphasized waste reduction and agricultural repurposing.

At that time, the Island Potato Soap website also clearly stated that the company used cull potatoes and field leftovers to create a value-added product, describing the initiative as a sustainability effort to turn agricultural waste into something useful. This documentation remains part of the public record.

In April 2025, a student team from the University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI), operating under the Enactus program, won a regional competition for a project called “Spuds2Suds” involving the collection of unharvested potatoes to make soap. UPEI’s media release quoted Enactus-PEI Co-Presidents, Maggie McNeil and Samuel Harding who described the project as the result of “three months of brainstorming” and highlighted the development of potato-based soap from unharvested potatoes as an innovation. The release was subsequently reprinted in several potato-based publications.

One international publication, ARGENPAPA, titled its coverage: “Innovations: The first soap made from discarded potatoes.” The headline reflected how the project was publicly understood – namely, as a novel or first-of-its-kind innovation.

No acknowledgment of the Island Potato Soap Company’s 2016 commercialization appeared in the original university or related media materials. UPEI’s academic integrity policies require acknowledgment of prior work where applicable. The absence of attribution has raised concerns regarding academic standards and Enactus’s values of transparency and respect for stakeholders.

After concerns were formally raised with UPEI and Enactus Canada, an editor’s note was added in February 2026 acknowledging that potato-based soap production had previously been developed and commercialized on Prince Edward Island by the Island Potato Soap Company.

While the addition of this editor’s note represents a step toward clarification, several broader questions remain:

• Whether the original communications accurately reflected existing local innovation.
• Whether the omission of attribution created a public perception of novelty.
• Whether judges and other competition teams, including the runner-up, were aware of the documented 2016 precedent.
• Whether branding similarities raise potential consumer confusion.

The Island Potato Soap Company emphasizes that students are welcome to explore similar sustainability ideas. Innovation in agricultural repurposing benefits everyone. However, when a concept has been previously commercialized locally and documented publicly for nearly a decade, acknowledgment of that groundwork is central to academic integrity, responsible entrepreneurship and public trust.

This situation also raises questions concerning academic attribution standards. Under widely accepted academic standards, including UPEI’s Academic Regulation 20, plagiarism is generally defined as using another’s ideas without proper acknowledgment. Determining whether this situation meets that definition is a matter of interpretation; however, the concept of attribution is central to academic integrity and entrepreneurial ethics.

In addition, certain scientific representations appearing in UPEI’s media release and subsequent coverage describing potato starch as “rich in vitamins and minerals,” suggesting it promotes “collagen production,” and characterizing potato-based soap as “organic” on the basis that potatoes are grown in the ground do not appear to cite established cosmetic chemistry literature. No publicly available supporting research was identified in connection with these claims. In the absence of substantiation, such statements may create a potentially misleading impression regarding the composition or properties of potato-based soap products.

The matter ultimately touches on broader issues of responsible communication, fact checking, accurate scientific representation and the importance of attribution in academic and entrepreneurial environments.

The island Potato Soap Company and its affiliated business, Welcome to Natural Products Inc. remain committed to sustainable innovation, honest marketing and responsible product development on Prince Edward Island.

Pieter Ijsselstein B.A. MSc. MBA is the registered owner of welcometonatural.com islandpotatosoap.com and spuds2suds.com e-mail: sales@islandpotatosoap.com

Pieter graduated with an MBA degree from UPEI in 2012.